<p>I see a lot of concern about the bath situation and I thought I would share my daughter's experience. She graduated in 2010 from UNC-CH (my son will attend UT-Austin this fall). Her freshman year she was assigned to a brand new honors dorm with a connecting bath and was thrilled. She just knew she would have hated the community bath situation and was really stressed worrying she would not get a dorm with private suite-style baths. So she went off the school a very happy camper. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, her suitemates liked to party... a lot. And they tended to barf up the bathroom every Thurs, Fri and Sat night. (My daughter is very social and no prude, but never saw the wisdom of drinking oneself sick.) Her suitemates also refused to share cleaning duties. They did not clean the bathroom a single time in two semesters, nor would they share the cost of bathroom supplies. She and her roommate had to do all the cleaning and eventually her roommate went on strike and refused to clean as well. At the end of her freshman year she could not get out of that dorm fast enough. My husband and I helped her move her things to storage for the summer and we were pretty shocked at the condition of that bathroom. She spent the next two years enjoying the community bath and twice-daily cleaning service of an older dorm. </p>
<p>So there are advantages to the community bath assignment. If you've been assigned a community bath and aren't happy about it, give it a chance.</p>
<p>Thanks for the post. I also feel that people have unfair biases against community bathrooms, when in fact, they are very convenient.</p>
<p>Thanks for the post. I got a connecting bathroom and I was pretty psyched but now I’m getting second thoughts. </p>
<p>Hopefully things will turn out okay</p>
<p>CarrieD - Hopefully so. I recommend coming to an understanding early with the other three bathroom users about who will do and buy what and when. And if problems crop up, you can take it up with RAs as well. I think my d was reluctant to go down the RA path and as a result she ended up scrubbing up a lot of other peoples’ barf and emptying their nasty trash. On check out day, she was the last to leave, so she had to do the final cleanup and pass inspection. Not fun.</p>
<p>Also, if you filled out the roommate questionnaire, I do think UT does a pretty good job matching up people according to their neatness factor.</p>
<p>Of course a bad experience is a possibility, but you may have awesome suitemates who help you clean! My suitemates and I even had movie nights – we got along quite well.</p>
<p>If there is any tension/disagreement between you and your suitemates, seek your RA’s help. You pay way too much to live on campus to just “deal” with things.</p>
<p>btw…to address annematronical’s point. My d got along with her suitemates brilliantly and they did a lot of things together. The girls were not bad people at all…they just refused to clean the bathroom.</p>
<p>@annematronical How are the Jester connecting bathroom rooms? </p>
<p>Any advice? I’ve never seen one before so any info would be helpful!</p>
<p>This may not be the case with every connecting bathroom, but my friend’s bathroom on the first floor of Jester West had really rusted sinks. It was pretty messed up.</p>
<p>I had a connecting bathroom at Kinsolving. I never got the chance to see one at Jester.</p>
<p>The connecting bathrooms at Kinsolving have two sinks, two mirrors, one toilet stall, and one shower. There are also 4 towel rods. I would say there’s enough room for two or three people to be in there at a time. To liven up the place, my suitemates and I installed a new shower curtain, though the one that is already in the bathroom suffices. I would recommend bringing the following items to make a connecting bathroom more comfortable:</p>
<p>-3M stick-on hooks that can be strategically placed. I recommend placing one by the shower so you can hang a towel there and not have to reach for the towel rod on the wall.</p>
<p>-Bath rugs are vital and are a great way to incorporate color. Ask your roomie to bring some too so that they can be rotated.</p>
<p>-Cleaning supplies</p>
<p>-Plenty of toilet paper</p>
<p>-Over-the-door hooks for the toilet stall door. It’s a great place to hang up clothes that you plan on changing into after your shower.</p>
<p>-A small trash bin with lid for the toilet stall. Don’t forget tiny trash bags! You can line the trash bin with old grocery bags.</p>
<p>-Dry-erase markers! If you and your suitemates are close, mirror messages are a great way to communicate. We would leave each other sweet and encouraging messages – anything from “Good luck on your exam!” to “Have a great vacation!”</p>
<p>Thanks for the post!</p>
<p>And back to the point of this thread…for those who received a community bath assignment and are concerned, don’t be. There are definitely advantages. The privacy factor is virtually the same as that of a suite-bath shared by 4 people…in that you are going to have to adjust to sharing space regardless of the type bathroom assignment you receive. And the cleaning service is definitely a plus. I believe most of the dorm rooms have sinks and mirrors, so the one disadvantage is having to run down the hall for toilet or shower. My daughter found that not a big deal at all. Also, your belongings are more secure. Fewer doors to lock or worry about. If, after your freshman year, you decide it’s not for you, you have a better chance of getting a suite as a sophomore. </p>
<p>A friend’s child is attending a university in AZ. They are building all their new dorms with community bathrooms (beautiful health club-like facilities) because they found they were spending a small fortune remodeling the suite baths because they were not properly cared for. Not sure if that will ever be the trend here in Texas, but I found it interesting.</p>